12/17/08 Rising Costs

You know "what" runs down hill. As it stands now, farmers and ranchers will be the ones sitting at the bottom if things don't change with the cap and trade systems being bounced around for next year. The failed Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act to reduce carbon emissions would have had electricity costs rising by 44 percent over the next two decades. In addition to rising electricity costs, fuel prices would be raised anywhere from $1.40 to possibly $3.50 per gallon in that time period. As if those increases wouldn't be enough of a strain on farmer's pocketbooks, the price of nitrogen fertilizers would also skyrocket as an indirect result. All in all drastically raising the cost of production for growers. This scenario doesn't have to be set in stone, or carbon as the case may be. However, it remains to be seen how President elect Obama, who is in favor of climate change legislation, will address the growing problem, and whether he will do it in a way that could actually benefit agriculture.